Sunrise Surprise
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Steph and Paul spend the early hours of an off day doing absolutely nothing at all and it's the best they've ever felt in a long time. - One-shot.


As in many marriages, Paul and Steph had good days and bad. The key was just to outweigh the bad with the good. And, honestly, they did. To a high degree.

That didn't mean that they didn't go through slumps though, like anyone might. Because they did that as well. And when you spent so much time together, the way that Paul and Steph did, it was rather noticeable when something was...off.

And boy were they off the past few days.

Steph was just...distant, mostly. They were out on the west coast for RAW, which usually hyped most of the locker room up, even more so it being winter and a practical frozen waste land everywhere else, as it gave them all the ones that couldn't afford to travel back home something to do in their off time. There was a time when it would be the same for Paul (Steph too, probably, he was sure), where he could go walk around a beach, snicker about the divas in their bathing suits, and just have a great time. Even in the fall and winter it could be fun, in California, as they might not be able to get in the water, but at the very least they were able to enjoy the sand and mild weather.

Being married changed things though, obviously, as whatever the two did had to be run through the other. And Steph had been rather busy up at work recently, behind the scenes. A lot of her time, actually, was spent more back home, in Connecticut, taking care of business at the headquarters. Paul was glad, however, that she was in California with him, though she didn't seem to be.

It wasn't even so much that she seemed upset with him. At all. Just...bored, maybe. They had been spending quite a bit of free time together. Wanting to be rid of one another was probably natural. Maybe. It was usually him that needed space eventually, rather than her, but he couldn't be too mad if she did.

"I don't really wanna go to the beach today," Steph told him Thursday morning as they sat in their hotel room. It was around five thrity, the usual time that he got up to head to the gym on those days. It wasn't a gym day, however, and he got up purely because, well, Steph had woken him up.

On accident. She kicked him in her sleep and, his body rather used to early mornings, he awoke immediately, sitting up rather quickly as he thought that something was wrong. Which, in his questioning loudly just what it was, woke her up and well, then there they were, both up with nothing wrong.

So Paul wanted to know if she wanted to go take a walk down on the beach.

"Some of that real cheesy shit you think I'm into," he explained as, being it so early yet unable to fall back asleep, they turned on the television to find only the news was on. "Like in your trashy little novels that you pretend you don't read."

"I don't."

"They're all over the house, Steph."

"i peruse them, occasionally."

"Yeah, well, come peruse the sunrise with me. I know you wanna."

Which is when Steph informed him that she didn't plan on going to the beach at all that day. And, as he deflated back into the bed with her at those words, she only reached over to gently tussle his hair.

"At all?" he mumbled against the mattress, where his head was pressed.

"Nope."

"You're sure?"

His hair was still getting toyed with as she said, "You can go, Paul. If you want. Alone. Or with anyone else that's going. I just don't...wanna go to the beach."

"How come?"

"I dunno. I just… I just have a lot of stuff to deal with. Work wise. And we were just at the beach, like every single day practically, three weeks ago."

"Those were southern beaches though. These are western beaches. Surely you see the superiority there."

"You're so full of it."

"Are you unimpressed with the beach body I've cultivated?"

"Well, considering I get to see it in those cute little speedos nearly weekly-"

"Still make you foam at the mouth?"

"I'm not sure the implication in that, but sure."

"It's different on a beach though," he told her simply, lifting his head a bit. "With the sand and the waves and, you know, you all suited up too. Or suited down."

"Mmmm."

"We just haven't really hung out since we got to California." He let his head fall again, just so she would begin toying with his hair again. "You haven't wanted to go to dinner or to see a movie or-"

"I've been working, Paul."

"I know."

"Are you feeling under appreciated?"

"Steph-"

"That's so cute."

"Knock it off."

"My little boy doesn't feel like I love him?"

"I hate you."

"Awe."

"Seriously. I seriously do."

"Have I been too distracted recently? Neglected your needs?"

"I'm about to leave and just never come back."

His head got one final pat before he felt Steph's hand leave it. Softly, she said, "I didn't even realize that we hadn't done anything since we got here."

Paul lifted his head again to say, "Well, the first day we got in and were tired and then the next two days were spent doing RAW and Smackdown shit and then last night you had that meeting and were probably tired-"

"You don't have to defend me. You're right. You've offered a few times for us to go do something and I haven't wanted to." Steph settled back into the bed as he watched. Staring at the television, she said, "We can go to the beach right now, if you want."

"I only wanted that because I thought you wanted that." He snorted, dropping his head once more. "Like I wanna go watch a damn sunrise."

"You know you do."

"Do not." Then he paused. "I mean, I could go for seeing you in your sexy little bikini, but the whole event of watching the sun come up isn't really something that gets me horny."

"Right. Because that would be the goal. To go out on a very public beach and get you horny."

"Is it not?"

Steph let out this long sigh then that made him smile against the bed. "You're impossible."

"I love you though."

"Mmmm." Steph pushed at his arm as he came out to fall over her. "Paul-"

"We can just lay here, if that's what you want," he said, pulling her to him, Steph willingly going. "I don't got shit to do. Just be around you."

"That is your favorite activity, isn't it?"

"Well, it's something that involve you. It's closer to being in you rather than around, but-"

"You're really pushing it today, aren't you?"

"I'm just glad we're talking."

"What do you mean?" She glanced at him then. "When weren't we talking?"

"Nothin', babe. Just-"

"We're always talking."

"I meant...you know. Like this. Just sitting around and talking about nothing."

"You asking for me to get you horny in a public place isn't nothing."

He turned his head to the side then, so that he could stare at her. "I didn't ask you to _get_ me horny. Just you being there would make it happen. Especially that tight little blue piece you have? You know the one."

"Oh, I know. You only jump my bones before I get a chance to ever wear it anywhere."

That got Paul to laugh. A true, deep bellied one. "I only what?"

"Jump my bones." She had her head turned to stare at him as well. "It's a thing."

"It is not."

"It is too."

"I mean, I have a _bone_ that I would like you to jump, but-"

"Have I honestly been neglecting you that much?" Steph turned completely then, onto her side, so that she could stare at him more comfortably. "Paul?"

"I dunno." The way she phrased it came off weird to him and made him bury his head in the mattress again. "I'm just joking. That's all."

"You know they say when people make self-deprecating jokes, it's usually because they have low self-esteem and deep down really feel that way about themselves."

"The hell does that have to do with-"

"Here you are," she said, gently pushing his arm off her before trying to roll him onto his back, the man being rather cooperative, "talking all this about how..."

"Horny. Say the word."

Steph blushed though as she whispered, "You're talking about how...horny you are and just keep doing it, which leads me to believe-"

"Babe, if this is a long way of saying you want to know if I could go for a, what was it you said? Bone jumping? Then yes. Definitely." He groaned as she moved to straddle his lap, though that was more out of enjoyment than frustration. "Fuck, Steph."

"I haven't even done anything," she giggled as he struggled to sit up with his back against the headboard. "You can't already be turned on when I haven't even done anything."

"Can too. Just being around you turns me on."

Steph sat back a bit, in his lap, as Paul only leaned forwards so that his forehead was nearly touching hers. With a slight grin, she asked, "Still?"

"Always." Resting his head fully on hers then, he breathed, "Promise."

And it was so early in the morning and they were both so tired that things felt a bit more languid than they would have been had they had such an interaction in the afternoon or evening. The news was still on in the background and it was local, so they really had no reason to care for anything other than the weather, but it made things feel a bit more real and less languorous.

Dreamy. Paul felt like he was dreaming, honestly. The sun had just begun its trek across the sky, but their room was cast in a more bluish hue, as the blinds were pulled tightly shut, keeping out most of the light. If it wasn't for the newscaster droning on about current events, Paul might have been able to right it off as not true.

After all, Steph hadn't seemed very interested in him the past few days, so the idea that to get out of that, she'd want to sleep together was a definite fantasy, but very rarely a reality. Typically when they were coming off one of their down periods, be it just from over interaction with one another or a fight, he usually had to take her out to dinner or to a movie or go shopping together. Hell, even just walking her dog back home. Something couplish.

Not just mention a bunch that he was horny as hell and would really like access to the inside of her pants.

But it was very much so real, he knew for certain, as his hand rested just beneath the fabric of her undershirt she wore to bed, the warm feeling of her soft flesh more than enough of a confirmation that yes, they were making up. Or at the very least about to screw.

He'd worry about the entailment of both later.

As he slept in his boxers (if not in the nude, should it get hot enough), Steph only sat there, running her hands up and down his abs and pecs, giggling to him about how tight his muscles felt. Tight. She kept repeating that word, trying to get him to repeat it back to her, in a very different context.

But he only gently stroked at her hips, not pushing her shirt up or trying to tug at those tiny shorts she wore. Just kept staring into her eyes, only grinning when she leaned forwards again to kiss at his chest and nip at his flesh.

Just as he'd had enough of that and was starting to tell her to get off, he needed those shorts go, oh, then, just like he needed his boxers, Steph was sitting up again, staring him right in the eyes.

There was something about them too, the way that her blues looked then as his darker pair only watched. Then, with a grin, she shifted her hips, just a bit. It was enough to get him to smile wider at her and say, "You're killin' me, Steph. You know that? Fuck. So slow. Mmmm."

"Sometimes we can be slow. And soft. And real."

"I'm real when I'm fucking you real bad, up against a wall or from behind or some shit because you're into that-"

"Oh, I'm the one into that?"

"You're into that," he agreed. "I'm just into you. And in you in general."

"Paul-"

"And I'm real when we're like this too." One hand at her waist tightened its grip. He knew she'd need to get up, for things to continue, but he didn't want her to just yet. "I just like being real with you."

There was a pause again as Steph had taken to shifting against him some more, but stopped at his words. And Paul's grin felt less devious then and more genuine when he said that. Because he meant it. He was real with her. About everything.

Eyes falling for a moment, Steph thought before glancing into his once more, hands resting against his chest as she said, "Paul, I'm pregnant."

And that was kind of a dumb thing to say, he felt, in that moment. A real mood killer too.

"You're… Steph, are you serious?"

She nodded as it was his turn to shift, though it was more because he wasn't really sure what the hell else he was supposed to do.

"Then… When did you… I'm-"

"I found out before we got to California," she said as she sat back in his lap, watching as he only stared at her with wide eyes. "And I've spent, like, the past few days trying to think up a real cutesy way of telling you, but I couldn't, because you keep wanting to spend, like, all of our free time together and then when I do get away from you, I can't think of anything at all that wouldn't completely suck and I just…" She fell silent then, perched in his lap, as she stared at her husband with equally as wide eyes. "I wanted this to be a really nice moment to talk about forever. Not us...about to have sex. We can't tell people that."

Paul didn't give a shit what she told people in that moment. Rather, he only ran a hand through his tangled hair before, finally, smiling the brightest he had the entire morning before moving to toss his arms around her.

"Damn, Steph," he laughed. "You're so fucking stupid. You know that?"

"I just wanted one of those cute stories that-"

"Fuck stories." He burrowed his head in her neck. "I feel like we've been trying forever. And now… Now… Are you sure?"

"Mmmhmm. I didn't believe the first test so I took, like, three. I'm either pregnant or probably dying or something."

"Or something," he agreed against her flesh before pressing a kiss there. "Don't you have to, like, go too a doctor or something?"

"I am. I just wanted to get back to Connecticut first. We'll be there in, like, a week, so-"

"You should just take off and go now. We're not doing anything serious here." He lifted his head before moving to kiss the side of hers. "Shit, Steph. Does anyone else know?"

"Not yet," she said as she reached up with one hand to run her hand through his tangled locks. "I didn't think I should tell anyone until I was, like, one hundred percent sure. After I go to a doctor, you know?" Then she giggled. "And until I told you."

Paul bowed his head again, nuzzling against her neck once more. Again her flesh, he whispered, "I love you. You know that? I love you so much. Man, Steph, you have no idea how great this makes me feel."

"I knew it would," she said with a bright smile. He didn't lift his head to see it though. "That's why I wanted to make it perfect, you know, when I told you? I was even thinking about maybe waiting until after I went to the doctor to be sure before I said something to you, but then you'd know something was up. And I couldn't keep avoiding spending time with you."

"No," he agreed softly, lifting his head then as he reached out with one hand to cup her cheek. "You couldn't."

More giggles. "It's been so hard, you know, because I really did wanna go out to dinner. And to that movie. But I knew that if I did, then I'd totally start talking to you and then would blab and that would just ruin everything, you know?"

"You didn't have to surprise me, Steph. This is surprise enough." At that he frowned, just a bit. "I mean, yeah, I know we were trying, but..."

For a moment, they just sat there, both of them, before Paul made a quick moved to flip her over and Steph let out a loud squeal.

"Mmmm." Over her then, he pushed up, staring down at her with dark eyes before moving to shift down on the bed. Laughing himself, he moved to nuzzle his head against her stomach, causing Steph to giggle as well and bat at him. Pushing up her shirt then, he rested his head directly against the flesh of her stomach before saying, "You're having my baby. This is everything, Steph. Everything."

"You're so cute."

Grinning then, he reached down with one hand, beginning to pull at her shorts finally. "You have no idea."

Still, it wasn't until things were completely and utterly confirmed for them that Paul truly got excited. Steph too.

Not that he wasn't nervous. Because he was. Extremely. But those nerves didn't outweigh his excitement. And, after Steph's doctor appointment the following week, they found themselves back at their place, only wanting to do one thing.

And after that one thing, as they laid around in bed, Steph wanted to call his parents and tell them.

"Mmmm." He only laid there, gesturing to her. "Get one of our phones then."

She had to slip off the bed to do this, but the second she was back, he pulled her real close to him, as he laid stretched out on his back, staring up at the woman as she sat with her legs pulled to her chest, giggling some more as she searched his cell for the contact number.

"You know," he grumbled playfully, "I know your father's number by heart."

"My father also signs your paychecks."

That got a good, deep bellied laugh from the man. "Touche."

Steph put the phone on speaker when his mother answered, resting it on his chest. He did most of the talking though, as he typically did when dealing with his side of the family. Besides, his mother was, obviously, more thrilled on the concept of him having a child than she was Stephanie.

Paul expected the same from Vince and Linda.

His father wasn't around though, which Paul was a bit bummed about, but he got enough excitement from his mother to have his fill. It was only when she was done gushing it out at him that she spoke to Stephanie and, for some reason, Steph took the phone from his chest and took it off speaker for that.

It made Paul happy though, that she and his mother were close enough to have their own conversations without him being involved at all. He was laying right there, anyways, and heard most of it.

When Steph finally hung up, Paul wasted no time in pinning her to the bed again. That time, however, it was only so he could rub their foreheads together and grin down at her.

"My son is going to completely beat the pants off Shane's kid."

That made Steph frown for possibly the first time in the past week as well as give him a look.

"Why would you say that?"

"Ain't that what cousins do? Or just people in general in the McMahon family?"

"Our son's not going to be a McMahon." She made that cute scrunched up face at him. "He's going to be a Levesque."

"Fuck yeah he is." Paul fell off the side, though he left an arm over her, holding the woman down as he cuddled into her side. "But he's still going to cash in on that McMahon fortune portion that's his. Just to clear that up."

"That just goes without saying."

Her cheek got a kiss. Then, breath against her face, Paul said, "I can't wait. It's been annoying as heck, hasn't it? Listening to your parents drone on and on about your brother and Marissa's kid?"

"Paul-"

"Don't get me wrong, the kid's a fine kid. A great kid. Awesome nephew. Couldn't ask for more." He smiled against her cheek. "But my son's gonna be better."

"You know there's no guarantee that we're having a son, right? And you probably sound like a complete douche to your daughter right now if we're not."

The toned arm across her shifted so that his palm could rest flat against her belly. They'd slipped on some clothes once more, before calling his mother, but she'd only put on a t-shirt and panties, leaving his hand to lay flesh to flesh with her stomach once he pushed the garment up.

"My baby girl knows I mean that for her too." Paul let out a low moan then that made Steph glance at him. "She can kick Declan's ass too."

"You're being a jerk."

"I'm just kidding. And just around you. My beautiful, amazing, sexy, wonderful wife."

"You sure are loving these days."

"If by these days you mean always, then yeah, I am." He curled his fingers a bit, over her stomach, before whispering, "What do you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you want," he clarified, "the baby to be?"

"Oh." She shut her eyes for a moment, as if in thought. Then, opening them, she said, "I think I'm supposed to say that I want a girl. Right?"

He shook his head a bit. "I think I'm supposed to want a boy. And you're supposed to say you want a girl, but secretly you're supposed to want a boy too. Or something."

"Oh."

"Is that it?"

"I dunno." Steph craned her neck then, to glance down at the way his hand splayed across her stomach. "I think right now I just want it to keep being real."

"Yeah." Her cheek got another kiss. "Me too."

"What do you want?"

"Hmmm." Paul's eye shifted shut. "I think I just want a baby. That's all. Either one. We've talked about this for so long and now-"

One of her hand s fell over his as she said, "I think my parents will want a girl."

"What makes you think that?"

"They already have a grandson," she said with a slight shrug. "Now they can have both."

"Steph, I'm plannin' on puttin' so many babies in you that they're bound to get a pretty decent mixture."

"You're so stupid," she said, but it was through that laughter of hers that only he could coax out at any and all times. "Gosh, Paul."

"I love you." His hand stroked her stomach gently then. "And I love our baby. Whatever it is."

"Don't call the baby an...it. Just call it a her. Or him. Until we know."

"You called him or her an it to tell me not to-"

"Don't make me upset on our nice day. You hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am." Breathing softer then, he said, "We're going to have to tell your parents. And soon. Else they'll accuse us of hiding it from them."

"Us? Hiding something? From them?" She reached up with her free hand to stroke at his chin. "That doesn't sound like us. Does it? Paul?"

"Mmmm." He felt about ready to drift off then and there, but knew he'd promised to take her out to dinner and the dog needed to be walked and, oh, shit, he still had to get that Vince and Linda stuff out of the way. But...a quick nap first wouldn't hurt anything. "Never."

* * *

 **LittleTayy asked for this one, so you ask and you will receive. I'm still working on the proposal one (promise) and still got a few of my own ideas to sift through. Always open to suggestions though.**


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